Death of a Salesman Willy and Charley Essay

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Willy and Charley

Of all the relationships in Death of a Salesman, the relationship between Willy and his friend and next door neighbor Charley is the most honest one. Unlike Willy's wife and sons, Charley has never idealized Willy. However, he shows kindness to Willy at the end of the play, demanding that Willy's sons pay respect to Willy, despite their father's failed life. "A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory," he says when Biff mourns the fact that his father didn't "know who he was" (Miller 103). Even though Charley is a very different type of person than Willy and is far more practical in his perspective on the world, he is still compassionate to his old friend.

If it were not for Charley, Willy would not be financially solvent. Throughout the play, Charley frequently lends money to Willy to ensure that Willy's family is taken care of, even though Willy cannot bring himself to admit to the fact that he cannot pay bills without Charley's assistance. Willy claims he will pay Charley back but his protests ring hollow. As Willy's job becomes less and less secure and he gets shifted to working solely on commission, Charley offers him a job but Willy rejects the offer. Even after Willy loses his job entirely, he tells his friend, "I can't work for you, that's all, don't ask me why," and although he denies Charley's accusation that he is jealous of him, that seems to be the case (Miller 71).

The most obvious difference between Willy and Charley and the reason for Willy's jealousy lies the behavior of their sons. Willy's sons are either dishonest, as in the case of Happy, or are simply drifting through life, as is the case with Biff.

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Charley's son Bernard, in contrast, works hard in school, becomes a lawyer, and actually does something valuable with his life. He does not become a salesman, merely selling his personality and attempting to cash in on being well-liked like Willy, nor does he rely upon his athletic talent like Biff. Bernard eventually argues a case before the Supreme Court, symbolizing the extent to which he has done something meaningful, something which Willy's aimless sons will never do. Willy has a great deal of stubborn pride, even though from the audience's perspective he has little to be proud of.

Despite their differences, over the course of the play, the two older men are shown enjoying many ordinary moments together such as when they play cards. This highlights why Charley has such affection for Willy, despite their vastly different personalities and work ethics. "Couldn't sleep good. I had a heartburn," says Charley, to which Willy responds. "Well, you don't know how to eat ... No, you're ignorant. You gotta know about vitamins and things like that" (Miller 28). However, even this brief bit of humorous dialogue also shows the extent to which Willy frequently makes sweeping statements about subjects he knows nothing about, such….....

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